Hakuna Matata
Young Simba was the apple of his father, Mufasa's, eyes and as his father was the King, Simba was the Prince and destined to be a leader. Unfortunately Mufasa's brother Scar is jealous of his big brother and Simba leading to some evil machinations and young Simba ending up being chased out of the pride. Initially lost and alone Simba finds a new life for himself built around a philosophy of no worries. But events lead Simba to confront his past and reclaim what was destined to be his.
I've often mentioned how I prefer the old Walt Disney animations over modern animations because to me those old animations such as "Bambi" had a skill about them which even as a movie fan you could appreciate. You also get a sense of Walt Disney's own personality coming across in them when it comes to the look, the characters, the humour and the stories. In truth very few animations in the post Uncle Walt era have managed to find that personality which those under his control had. That of course leads me to "The Lion King" and this has as close to that personality as you can get.
Now what do I mean by personality? Well it is a combination of things from the characters to the big musical animated sequences which almost hark back to some of the early Disney animations with their synchronized animated choreography. It is basically everything from the cuteness of young Simba to Rowan Atkinson perfectly chosen to voice the King's loyal bird. And it is because of all this that "The Lion King" is not only held in such high esteem by many of those who watched it back in 1994 but is equally popular with new audiences. Let me put it this way, how many animated movies which are over twenty years old can trend on Twitter when they get broadcast on a Summer's afternoon on TV.
What this all boils down to is that "The Lion King" is for me one of just a handful of animations in the last 30 years which match up to the vintage animations of early Walt Disney. And to be honest it puts so many animations which have followed in the shade as it delivers everything from story to characters along with great animation work and music.
